Chiaroscuro
by MsComrade
Summary: This was a writing challenge from the wonderful Shizuka Taiyou: Sanji losing his sight. "He couldn't stop his hands from trembling, the small cracks in his restraint had turned into full blown fissures. Sanji blinked at him slowly a few times, before something seemed to click in the cook's brain. 'Zoro…I can't see.'"


Disclaimer: Oh shit, I just realized that I don't own One Piece. Yohoho yaoi ahead! Pre-established Zo-San

* * *

"Where is he?"

Zoro wasn't fucking around anymore. He slammed marine's head against the wall again, relishing in the way his blood spattered against the glaring white wall. The swordsman's large hand pressed down hard on the Marine's windpipe, "where is the cook?"

When Sanji hadn't come back to the ship that first night he didn't really think anything of it. They thought the island was uninhabited. He was probably just gathering food, or documenting birds in that stupid sketchbook, or maybe he'd just found a good spot for the night. It wasn't unusual for Sanji to camp out under the stars. So Zoro just lounged in the crow's nest, watching the beach for signs of blonde hair and tobacco smoke. 5 days passed, but there had still been no sign of the cook. He should have known something was wrong, he should have gone looking that second day. Hell he should have gone looking that first fucking night.

He hadn't known what was going on here.

Even before joining Luffy he'd held a certain level of hatred for the Marines, but after everything he'd seen today he was convinced that they were the closest thing to devils he'd ever come across. What they found when they broke into the base wasn't even something he could have imagined in his worst nightmares. There were hundreds of them, prisoners; experiments. Room after room they broke into just held more horrors, people that didn't even resemble humans anymore, people that probably never remembered even being human. It was endless. More than once the swordsman had dug through a pile of bodies after catching a glimmer of golden hair. Zoro had roared with anguish when they had stumbled across a room piled high with the small decaying corpses of children. Chopper said they couldn't have been more than eight years old, some of them maybe even less.

Their doctor was crying. He so badly wanted to help, they all did. But he doubted there was anything they could do. They needed to find Sanji first, then they could let hell break lose through these stark white halls. They were going to take this place down, he could practically feel the rage rolling off their captain. The nauseating combination of antiseptic and decaying flesh seemed to cling to him, settling in a sticky layer on his skin and clothes. He'd lost count of how many murderers in lab coats he'd cut down. It didn't really matter, more and more just seemed to appear out of thin air. And not a single one of them would answer.

"Zoro….you're going to kill this one too," he felt Ussop grip his shoulder tightly, for once the sniper's voice was steady, "I know how upset you are. We're all worried. But we won't get anywhere if you keep killing our leads."

The swordsman snarled dangerously, letting the marine's limp body slide to the floor. He knew Ussop was right. If he wanted to find his cook he needed to keep a level head. But right now his body was pumping pure adrenaline through his veins. He felt like he was vibrating with all the tension that had built up in his muscles. He needed to be doing _something_. He couldn't just stand around and wait, not when Sanji could be flayed open on an operating table. Not when some faceless marine doctor could be wrist deep in the cook's chest, dissecting him like some lab animal. Who knew what the hell could be happening to his blonde while he just sits here trying to get information out of this scum the nice way.

"I'm going to keep searching," he growled jerking away from their sharpshooters hand, "C'mon Chopper, let's go." The quick clacking of hooves against linoleum was the only cue he needed to storm off down the hall with their furry doctor jogging to keep up behind him.

* * *

Zoro slammed another door shut, struggling to keep the bile from rising up in his throat. It was sick what was going on here. Those bodies couldn't have been more than a few days old, they were just children dammit! They didn't do anything to deserve this; to die in this place, in a cold dark cell covered in filth. The image was burned into the backs of his eyelids, the small blonde curled up in a corner, her bony arms clinging to a small stuffed fish,

_"Hey marimo, have you ever wanted kids?"_

Her springy blonde curls had been caked with dirt, and what Zoro was sure was dried blood. Her glassy blue eyes seemed to stare right through him,

_"Maybe…when we settle down we could adopt."_

She looked so small and fragile.

_"I've always wanted a daughter. A little princess to spoil,"_

Zoro's hands looked massive as he reached out and slid her eyelids shut.

_"Wouldn't you like that? A little girl you could teach Santoryu?"_

She looked like she was just sleeping now.

The swordsman pressed his forehead against the cool metal of the door, trying desperately to calm down the churning in his stomach. Until now, he had never really understood what it meant to have a broken heart. But now he could practically feel the cracks forming. With his chest aching furiously and rare tears stinging the backs of his eyes, he knew.

"C'mon Chopper, we have to keep moving," his voice sounded thick and hoarse as he gently patted their sniffling doctor, "lead the way."

* * *

Every single damn hallway looked the same, if Chopper wasn't the one navigating he would have been sure they were lost. Their footfalls echoed loudly in the empty halls. There were no marines crowding around them, no fighting to drown out the heavy silence that tore right through Zoro's nerves. He'd never been someone to find peace in the quiet. Even when he was mediating he could hear the sounds of his crew, the sounds of the sea and the wind, the sounds of life. But here it was like they had entered a void that not even the breath of nature could penetrate.

The swordsman stopped when he noticed the lack of hooves clacking against linoleum, "oi, Chopper…?"The reindeer was frozen mid-step, eyes blown wide and blue nose twitching madly.

"I smell tobacco…" he murmured softly before bolting down the hallway, shifting seamlessly into walk point, "I smell tobacco!" he yelled again excitedly, "and cinnamon! And cardamom! And cloves!"

Zoro's chest swelled as he sprinted after their doctor. He couldn't help the hopeful smile spreading across his lips. There was only one person with that unique addictive scent.

They ran for what seemed like hours down the endless maze of sterile white halls, it was amazing that Chopper was able to pick up such a faint scent through the thick haze of chemicals that hung in the air. They were both out of breath when their doctor skidded to a halt in front of a plain nondescript metal door.

Zoro was frozen on the spot. It suddenly felt as if his heart were pumping ice as he numbly lifted his hand to the knob, an action that he had done so many times today. The image of a blonde corpse huddled in the corner tore through his mind like a bullet. The swordsman swallowed thickly, silently praying to any god he could think of to let Sanji be alright.

The room was different than the others they had been to. Instead of a dark grimy cell, they entered what appeared to be a hospital room, that was just as plain and clean as the hallway they had just been in. Zoro's eyes were immediately drawn to the prone figure strapped down to the examination table in the center of the room.

Zoro felt his mouth run dry. Even though his boots felt like they had been stuffed with lead he had somehow managed to drag himself closer.

He was so pale.

If it weren't for the noticeable rise and fall of his chest Zoro would have thought he was dead. The swordsman felt like he was moving in slow motion as Chopper frantically examined the blonde, checking his vitals and carefully unhooking him from the myriad of whirring machines and IVs. Sanji's skin seemed almost translucent under the bright fluorescent lighting, only dressed in a pair of loose white pants. The swordsman's eyes carefully traced the cook's face and neck and every inch of his shirtless chest, searching for any injury or even the slightest discoloration of skin. The rows of small red dots lining the cook's arms made Zoro's stomach twist into knots. He'd gotten enough shots from Chopper to recognize the mark left behind by a needle. The doctor hesitated when his tiny hooves reached for the leather straps securing the cook to the table. The skin on his wrists and ankles were as pristine and unmarked as the rest of him. Sanji hadn't even struggled or put up a fight.

"It looks like they just had him hooked up to fluids to keep him hydrated. He appears to be healthy but…" the doctor trailed off, obviously trying hard to keep his voice from trembling as he worked on unhooking the final straps, "I can't examine him properly until we're back on the Merry….but I want to wake him up now, so I have a better idea of what I need ready."

Zoro's chest tightened as the small doctor shook Sanji's shoulder's gently. Without thinking about it, the swordsman's fingers interlaced with Sanji's long cold digits as Chopper kept trying to rouse him. Relief flooded through his system when the blonde's brow furrowed slightly and he felt Sanji's hand squeezing lightly.

"Zoro…?"

The swordsman's legs nearly gave out beneath him, he never thought he'd be so happy to hear the cook's voice. The swordsman's throat felt tight as his free hand reached out to gently stroke Sanji's cheek, "yea cook, I'm right here," he murmured. Zoro fought back the urge to just pull the blonde against his chest, even if Sanji looked alright, they still didn't know the extent of his injuries or what kinds of things those shitty doctors could have done to him. The blonde squirmed slightly, shivering against the cool metal of the table before his eyelids fluttered open.

"Zoro?" he mumbled again, squeezing the swordsman's hand with a little more strength, "why is it so dark in here?"

He felt like the floor was crumbling beneath him. His composure was breaking as Sanji struggled to sit up squinting around the room.

"Oi asshole," the cook grumbled again, more awake now, tugging at Zoro's hand "can't you turn on the lights? I can't see jack shit."

The swordsman didn't even attempt to hide the panic swelling in his chest as he grabbed Sanji's face with both of his hands, not even hearing the protests of their doctor. The cook was fully awake now, eyes blown wide, but Sanji wasn't seeing him.

He was going to be sick.

_Glassy blue eyes _

It was as if the oceanic hues of his eyes had been iced over

_Staring right through him _

He couldn't stop his hands from trembling, the small cracks in his restraint had turned into full blown fissures. Sanji blinked at him slowly a few times, before something seemed to click in the cook's brain.

"Zoro…I can't see."


End file.
